Emirates Poule d’Essai des

Pouliches (Group 1)

TWO Guineas. Two stewards’ enquiries. One disqualification. One jockey who can’t catch a break. Lots of controversy. And the racing world denied a ‘David slaying Goliath’ tale with a breeze-up sales reject who cost her syndicate owners just £600 a pop defeating a blue-blooded filly representing one of the most successful owner-breeders that the sport has ever seen.

At Longchamp last Sunday, Henri Matisse continued the all-conquering run of Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-olds with a narrow victory in the Group 1 Emirates Poule d’Essai des Poulains.

But more of that later, the real story came in the fillies’ equivalent, the Group 1 Emirates Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, where Shes Perfect, given a well-judged front-running ride by Kieran Shoemark, held off the odds-on favourite, Zarigana, by a few millimetres, much to the delight of her British trainer, Charlie Fellowes, and a large number of members of the Basher Watts Syndicate, her owners.

Sacked as number one

This is the same Shoemark, let’s not forget, who was summarily sacked as number one jockey to the John and Thady Gosden stable only days earlier after his mount, the favourite, Field Of Gold, has finished strongly but been unable to reel in Ruling Court in the English 2000 Guineas.

Redemption for the rider. A first Group 1 in his 12th season with a licence for Fellowes. And proof that, even in a multi billion euro global industry increasingly dominated by the big boys, sometimes fairytales do still come true and the underdog can prevail. But no. A single inspection of the head-on film showed that Shes Perfect has shifted markedly to her left halfway up the home straight, taking the ground of the best of O’Brien’s four runners, Exactly, who in turn was carried into the path of Zarigana.

Straightened up by Shoemark, Shes Perfect looked likely to be overtaken by Zarigana’s Francis Graffard-trained stablemate, Mandanaba, challenging up her inside.

Locked together

Then, having courageously fought off that rival, she had to contend with Zarigana’s final burst, and the pair flashed past the post locked together.

Unaware of any potential problem, Basher’s battalion of young members descended on the paddock and cavorted around the winner’s enclosure.

Shes Perfect had been sent off at odds of 18/1 on the day, but had been 1,000,000/1 to win a classic when led out of the Arqana sales ring unsold at €50,000 precisely one year earlier.

With 18 long minutes had elapsed since the combatants had crossed the line before, finally, the fateful tannoy announcement was made. The first two places were reversed and Shoemark given a four-day ban.

Graffard is a classy individual. He immediately professed sympathy for the Simply Perfect team while expressing relief that Zarigana, who had been denied in agonising circumstances in the Prix Marcel Boussac, now had a Group 1 triumph to her name.

His relief paled in comparison to Barzalona’s.

The result ended up going the way of his mount, an Aga Khan home-bred daughter of Siyouni and granddaughter of the legendary Arc heroine, Zarkava, but this was not his finest hour.

Waiting tactics

Aware that Zarigana does not like to be in front too soon, he appeared to overegg the waiting tactics, then dropped his whip after the interference had taken place and spent the final furlong furiously mimicking whip strikes down Zarigana’s neck with the palm of his hand.

He was hit with a two-day ban of his own for an incident close to the line which probably cost Exactly third place (she ceded it to Mandanaba).

Fellowes was understandably crestfallen, but, holding himself together commendably, said that he would take advice before deciding whether to lodge an appeal.

In the days that followed it became clear that any such appeal was likely to concentrate on Barzalona’s hand strikes in the closing stages, suggesting that they exceeded the nine-strike maximum that brings mandatory disqualification under France Galop’s new whip rules.

I am no lawyer, and the rules could undoubtedly do with clarification, but, since they currently concern use of the whip rather than the hand, the result looks unlikely to be amended for a second time.

Emirates Poule d’Essai des Poulains (Group 1)

THE Pouliches would have trimmed 0.05s off the record time for the mile course were it not for the fact that the old mark had been beaten by 0.19s in the Poulains 40 minutes earlier.

This underlines the wisdom of Jessica Harrington’s decision to pull out her Poulains hope, Hotazhell, at the last minute owing to the ever-quickening ground conditions.

In Hotazhell’s absence, the race was still dominated by its all-Aidan O’Brien Irish contingent, with Henri Matisse coming from near the rear to catch the British raider, Jonquil with 150 yards to run.

Winning jockey Ryan Moore seemed to have timed his challenge well, yet Henri Matisse again showed a tendency to idle in front and the rallying Jonquil got back to within a head of him at the line.

This was despite Jonquil hanging to his right and interfering with the best of the French contenders Ridari on the rail, who, as a consequence, dropped from third to fifth, allowing the O’Brien second string, Camille Pissarro, to grab the minor placing and the Charlie Fellowes-trained Luther to take fourth place.

Suspended

Jonquil’s pilot, Oisin Murphy, was suspended for two days while poor old Kieran Shoemark got another four days (two for whip abuse and two for an incident after the start) for his conduct aboard Luther.

Following their string of trial victories at Chester and Lingfield in the preceding days, the Ballydoyle three-year-olds seem to have rapidly put the setback of a rare Newmarket Guineas blank behind them.

Henri Matisse is a Wootton Bassett half-brother to the dual Group 1 winner Tenebrism out of another dual Group 1-winning filly, Immortal Verse, and is now the winner of six of his eight career starts.

Fantastic pedigree

O’Brien said: “He is a really good horse with a fantastic pedigree. Ryan told me that he was never worried during the race.

“The horse doesn’t like hitting the front too early. When a race is truly run like today, everyone has a fair chance. Henri Matisse can accelerate after relaxing during the run and was able to find another gear when challenged. When he was beaten in the Lagardere, the ground was very soft and he was hampered at the start.

“Returning to France for the Prix du Jockey Club is a real possibility. We would also consider the St James’s Palace Stakes for him.

“Christophe Soumillon thinks that Camille Pissarro also has the right profile for the Jockey Club.”

Saint-Alary

Francis Graffard began his classic-winning day by saddling a 1-2 with a pair of Prix de Diane hopefuls in the Group 2 Auguste Rodin Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary, although not in the expected order as the Almanzor filly Gezora lowered the colours of Audubon Park by a length and a quarter.

In the opening Group 3, the Prix de Saint-Georges over five furlongs, Oisin Murphy partnered the Ed Walker-trained Mgheera to a take a length and a half success.

This was the five-year-old’s first run for the trainer and a step up on previous form, he was third in this to Ponntos (third here) last season.

Germany

WILLIE McCreery and Nathan Crosse came very close to nabbing a Group 2 prize in Germany on Sunday when the Annette Mee-owned Enfranchise was shaded out of first prize by a head in the

Comer Group International 54th Oleander-Rennen over two miles at Hoppegarten Racecourse.

The winner Flatten The Curve and Thore Hammer Hansen, just got the nod for trainer Henk Grewe after Enfranchise had held a narrow advantage before the post in the nine-runner contest.